Winter Is For The Birds!

Are you a birding enthusiast? If so, you should be noticing an increase of your feathered friends surrounding your bird feeders. As the cooler days and nights approach, birds will look for food to store for the winter months.

It is important to start a regimen of keeping your bird feeders filled as we move into winter. It is the time that most foliage has defoliated thus limiting the natural foods that birds are used to eating.

While there are a number of different types of birdseed available, the number one type of preferred seed is "Black Oil Sunflower". Why not incorporate other types of food to your bird feeding practices as well such as:

Dried Fruit
Bread
Dry Dog Food
Cornmeal mixed in suet
Roasted or dried mealworms

If you're a true birding enthusiast, you may want to try making your own suet treats!
Here are two suet treat recipes to try:

Corn Nutty Bird Bites

A high fat mix which keeps birds warm. Birds attracted: Woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, bluebirds, catbirds, wrens

Ingredients
2 cups whole grain crackers or unsweetened whole grain cereal or bread crumbs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

Crush the crackers or cereal. Stir in the canola oil and peanut butter. If dry, add more canola oil to make the grain stick together more.

Offer the mixture in a feeder that suits the style of birds you want to attract, or you can spread it on tree bark or put in a feeding tray. Store the remainder in the freezer for future use.

Molded Bird Treats

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup water, plus another 1/2 cup water
1 ounce (4 packets) unflavored gelatin
5 cups black oil sunflower seeds
1 cup sunflower chips
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dried cranberries
Nonstick cooking spray

Boil 1 1/2 cups of water in a small saucepan. Pour remaining 1/2 cup of cold water into a large, heat-proof bowl. Stir in the gelatin, and let it sit for about one minute.  Add the boiling water stirring until all the gelatin dissolves, about 2-3 minutes.

Stir in all the seeds and berries until they're coated with gelatin and the mixture sticks together. Let it sit for a few minutes and then stir again.

Scoop the mixture into a greased bundt or fluted pan or on greased tin foil pieces shaping into squares if putting in a suet feeder. Refrigerate, uncovered for at least 3 hours or overnight. Set it on a rack in a dry place for about three days to harden completely. Or, you can put in the freezer and offer when ready.

Thinking ahead long term there are several plants and flowers that one can plant in their landscape to encourage birds. Visit our website www.rutgersln.com and read the list of Berry Bearing Trees & Shrubs 

Planting fruit trees for food and evergreens for shelter will make your landscape even more enticing, along with providing sale places for birds to hide. 

Fall Clearance Sale with Three Great Events

Don't miss this fantastic sale and three great events!

~Reservations are needed for all events~

Wine Tasting

10/14

Ages 21+

Fall Soups with Chef Paul

10/15

Fall Wreath-Making Workshop

10/16

Call Leslie Boss at (908) 788-2600 x234

or email LBoss@RutgersLN.com

to reserve your seat now!

October Landscaping Tips

As the weather gets cooler, not only do the leaves change color, but subtle changes begin to take shape in your landscape. Many plants will begin to prepare themselves for the cooler months of fall and winter. What can you do in your garden during the month of October?

 

•Have soil pH tested, make necessary amendments

•Add leaves to your compost pile

•Transplant established trees and shrubs after they have lost their leaves

•It's the best time of year to seed new lawns, warm days and cool nights facilitate rapid weed free turf establishment

•Seed until frost; discontinue after frost

•Avoid planting flats of evergreen ground cover (pachysandra, ivy, myrtle) after frost

•Plant all trees, shrubs and perennials

•Clean up perennials beds after frosts (cut back, clean up what has died down)

•Plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs

•Dig and store summer-flowering bulbs and tubers